Le Verrier (lunar crater)

Le Verrier
Le Verrier seen by Lunar Orbiter 4 in 1967
Coordinates40°18′N 20°36′W / 40.3°N 20.6°W / 40.3; -20.6
Diameter20 km
Depth2.1 km
Colongitude21° at sunrise
EponymUrbain Le Verrier
View of Helicon (left) and Le Verrier (right). While Helicon's ejecta is buried by the mare lava, Le Verrier's is not. (The mountain on the horizon at left is Promontorium Laplace. Image taken by Apollo 15).

Le Verrier is a small lunar impact crater located in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium. It was named after French mathematician and astronomer Urbain Le Verrier.[1] To the west is the slightly larger crater Helicon, and farther to the west-northwest lies the mountain-ringed bay Sinus Iridum.

Le Verrier, sometimes written Leverrier, is a bowl-shaped feature with a nearly circular rim. The inner walls display the appearance of slumping along the upper edges. The inner wall and floor to the southeast appears more irregular than elsewhere.

Chang'e 3 landed north of Le Verrier in December 2013.

  1. ^ "Le Verrier (lunar crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.